it could have been ND. I realize he would have transferred before he actually stepped on campus or pulled a signing day surprise because thats just waht Kelly does, i don't like him at USC... mostly because Lane Kiffin bothers me.

On the fifth night—possibly the sixth—a breeze arose.
It was cool and dewy.

I'm with WolvinLa2 on this, though it was Green that I thought better than Isaac. Either way, I get flashbacks of McGuffie when I see Isaac film - obviously a completely different kind of runner, but Isaac always seems to hit the off-tackle hole and suddenly be alone, which is unlikely to happen in college. Just as McGuffie relied on just outrunning (or hurdling) in his tape.

For me, if a recruit is attracted to a guy like Lane Kiffin and a place like USC, they don't have the character to be a real Michigan man. May be a fantastic football player but not the kind of guy I want in our program.

I am disappointed, but why dis on USC. They are an excellent school academically, the weather is stellar and they have had tremendous recent success on the field, the last few years and their bowl-ban notwithstanding. They also have the capability of bringing in superb talent. Maybe the kid is just tired of midwest winters and would rather spend time walking around in shorts mid-January.

Really? I'm a huge UM fan and USC would be at the top of the list with UM and UT. Unbelievable girls, weather, football, and a great academic school. Who the head coach is is 1 factor. it says nothing about his character.

I probably wanted Isaac more than anyone, but in the end, Id rather have guys that want to be Michigan Wolverines. I wish Ty the best, he will be a beast. But lets not count out the guys we have. They are going to be so hungry to prove everyone wrong and make us forgey about losing Isaac. I am a little bummed out, but Im happy with our current RBs. The Levenberry miss wasnt as bad either because of the depth we have there. Now, with that being said, If we miss out on Treadwell, that will warrant a mass panic. We need a stud WR. That is one position we cant afford to miss out on, imo.

I really expected him to go to UM, but it seems he just fell in love with USC more and more each time he ran out there. I think he's going to be a great player. Tough loss for UM, but still plenty of time to find another guy

250 pounds now,do you think he's going to lose weight? He could put on more weight once he gets into the weight room right? My point is he's not a HB,so will everybody stop saying we have two HB's please!

He looks like he is going to be a great player. I like Smith a lot and think he will have a hell of a career running behind the O-line here at UM though, so I don't find this news all that bad. Good luck Isaac.

I find it hard to get too upset about recruiting at this juncture and with the type of class the staff has put together. We'll be just fine.

or Bama type of player, meaning a super elite skill type that so far, we just can't seem to land. Smith is more our kind of player, just a level down from the elite. As we continue to win, this could/will change, but for now I think this shows it's pretty hard for us at this stage to win these recruiting battles. The class is already great, so we'll be fine. But it sure would be nice to land one of these RB/WR 5* types once in awhiile.

"We can't overestimate the value of computers: yes they are great for playing games and forwarding funny emails, but real business is done on paper. Write that down."

It's way, way too early for this kind of statement. Hoke has been here for exactly one full recruiting cycle, and in that time, he has landed a 5-star QB and leads for a top-5 WR. I say we hold off on this for now.

year, I'm talking about the last many years, including Lloyd's last few. With LC we got as couple of these guys (I believe Mario was a 5*?) and were able to pull elite lineman, but not the super elite skill guys that we were fighting the USC's of the world for.

"We can't overestimate the value of computers: yes they are great for playing games and forwarding funny emails, but real business is done on paper. Write that down."

I'm not sure that's correct. In the latter half of Lloyd's tenure, we landed at least Ryan Mallet, Donovan Warren, and Chad Henne, all of whom were consensus 5-stars. Warren was from CA and had a USC offer. Mallett had offers from Alabama and Texas. Henne had an offer from Miami (which was as big a deal as a USC or Alabama offer back then).

It's true that against the Alabamas and the USCs of the world, we may lose more head-to-head recruiting battles for kids from outside the Midwest than we win. And yes, they'll probably be able to pull more kids from the Midwest than we'll be able to pull from the West Coast/Southeast. But it's not like we don't hold our own.

I agree that it is early, but we have had some frustrating recruiting misses for some skill guys over the years. At the risk of over-generalizing, it does seem that many top skill players (especially WRs and RBs) seem to love the limelight and the attention of their position. If getting attention is their goal, then SoCal might not be a bad choice. On the other hand, if they want to be part of a great team and a family, Michigan would be a better choice.

Shane will be a consensus 5-star when all is said and done. And if he wasn't such a Michigan lock, he would be getting plenty of attention from the USCs and the Alabamas of the world. Laquon Treadwell is a borderline 5-star with offers from USC and Alabama , and we look to be in pretty good shape for him.

That is the weird thing. 5* RBs line up to get a few reps here and there behind five or six other 5* RBs. Usually guys want a lot of playing time, but at USC they are content to take the risk of not playing much, if at all.

this doesn't really upset me at all. RBs are a dime a dozen, and it seems like it is pretty easy to have an effective running game with decent backs and a great OL. With Smith already in the fold I think we are okay even if we don't take another back.

You just made the opposite point... The fact that there are 40+ 1000 yard rushers a year shows that you don't need an elite running back to have a great rushing attack. Who cares if the guy goes on to play in the NFL ultimately? As far as Michigan is concerned, it's about the team. It doesn't make a difference if it's 1000 yards Barry Sanders style with no line support, or if it's 1000 yards thanks to a massive Oline. It's the same number of yards and the same number of touchdowns.

"Michigan Defense" is dominating everything, in every aspect of life. That's a rough definition.